The Bristol average for the Bacc is 11%, cf 15% nationally. In 10 Bristol schools <5% of pupils achieved the Baccalaureate.

In my constituency, Bristol Metropolitan Academy – quite possibly the most improved school in the country – 83% of pupils got 5 A-Cs, and 39% got 5 A-Cs including English and Maths, but only 7% would have ‘passed’ on the Gove measure (and that’s at a school which is a specialist language school). At Brunel Academy, it was only 4% and at Brislington Enterprise College (BEC) it was a mere 1%. So does Gove think that 99% of pupils at BEC are ‘failures’?

Comments

Not failures in that sense, but the Bac is exremely useful in comparing certain things. Both myself and my wife are academically clever and so I expect my son to also be academic and so will send him to a school that focuses on that agenda.

Of course, since my sister has dyslexia, and is not academic (although very good with scissors on my hair) my son my not be academic in which case, I would not use the Bac criteria but send him to a “vocational” school.

All in all, since it is an extra column, and therefore more information, I welcome this initiative.

It will also enable parents to compare like for like in State vs Public schools

This is crazy. Pretty much all of the schools in your constituency have undergone vast improvements in the last 5 or more years (Both academically and socially). I know, having gone to Brunel Academy. So according to Gove’s randomly generated method of qualification, they all suck again. That’s just the confidence boost students need! :p

This is such a silly argument. Just because the new system was applied to schools right away, no one is going to judge the school. It will all depend on what they achieve next year, or the year after next.
All the govt. has done is to give education a new direction – so schools can adjust accordingly. They took a decision (gasp!!! what would Brown say??) that these are the subjects to focus on for students’ employment prospects and for UK’s ranking in the world.